Presentation of product recommendations based on social informatics

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and/or computer program product presents product recommendations based on input derived from a user&#39;s social network. A description of a product selected for purchase by a user is received. A social networking site is searched for information relevant to a characterization the product. The relevant information is characterized according to a social relationship between the user and an other member of the social networking site, a product family of the product, and a product expertise of the other member about the product. Characterized information about the product is then presented to the user.

The present invention is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/045,365 (Atty. Docket No. RSW920130120US1), filed on Oct. 3,2013, and entitled “Presentation of Product Recommendations Based onSocial Informatics,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to the field of computers, andspecifically to the use of social groups on computers. Still moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to the use of social groupsto make product recommendations.

When a user is in the process of using, purchasing, leasing, orotherwise obtaining a particular product, that user relies heavily onproduct reviews from an unknown community. However, such reviews areoften untrustworthy, since the product reviewers often 1) have differentneeds and expectations than the user, and/or 2) have hidden motivationsfor recommending a particular product, in order to influence the user'spurchase.

SUMMARY

A method, system, and/or computer program product presents productrecommendations based on input derived from a user's social network. Adescription of a product selected for purchase by a user is received. Asocial networking site is searched for information relevant to acharacterization the product. The relevant information is characterizedaccording to a social relationship between the user and an other memberof the social networking site, a product family of the product, and aproduct expertise of the other member about the product. Characterizedinformation about the product is then presented to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary system and network which may be used toimplement the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user interface that enables a user toselect a desired product from a selection of products;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary user interface that depicts friends from asocial circle recommending one or more products that are related to theselected product from FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a high level flow chart of one or more exemplary steps takenby one or more processors to present product recommendations based oninput derived from a user's social network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including, but not limited to, wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

With reference now to the figures, and in particular to FIG. 1, there isdepicted a block diagram of an exemplary system and network that may beutilized by and/or in the implementation of the present invention. Notethat some or all of the exemplary architecture, including both depictedhardware and software, shown for and within computer 102 may be utilizedby software deploying server 150 and/or other computer(s) 152.

Exemplary computer 102 includes a processor 104 that is coupled to asystem bus 106. Processor 104 may utilize one or more processors, eachof which has one or more processor cores. A video adapter 108, whichdrives/supports a display 110, is also coupled to system bus 106. Systembus 106 is coupled via a bus bridge 112 to an input/output (I/O) bus114. An I/O interface 116 is coupled to I/O bus 114. I/O interface 116affords communication with various I/O devices, including a keyboard118, a mouse 120, a media tray 122 (which may include storage devicessuch as CD-ROM drives, multi-media interfaces, etc.), a speaker 124, andexternal USB port(s) 126. While the format of the ports connected to I/Ointerface 116 may be any known to those skilled in the art of computerarchitecture, in one embodiment some or all of these ports are universalserial bus (USB) ports.

As depicted, computer 102 is able to communicate with a softwaredeploying server 150 using a network interface 130. Network interface130 is a hardware network interface, such as a network interface card(NIC), etc. Network 128 may be an external network such as the Internet,or an internal network such as an Ethernet or a virtual private network(VPN).

A hard drive interface 132 is also coupled to system bus 106. Hard driveinterface 132 interfaces with a hard drive 134. In one embodiment, harddrive 134 populates a system memory 136, which is also coupled to systembus 106. System memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memoryin computer 102. This volatile memory includes additional higher levelsof volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cachememory, registers and buffers. Data that populates system memory 136includes computer 102′s operating system (OS) 138 and applicationprograms 144.

OS 138 includes a shell 140, for providing transparent user access toresources such as application programs 144. Generally, shell 140 is aprogram that provides an interpreter and an interface between the userand the operating system. More specifically, shell 140 executes commandsthat are entered into a command line user interface or from a file.Thus, shell 140, also called a command processor, is generally thehighest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as acommand interpreter. The shell provides a system prompt, interpretscommands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, andsends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of theoperating system (e.g., a kernel 142) for processing. Note that whileshell 140 is a text-based, line-oriented user interface, the presentinvention will equally well support other user interface modes, such asgraphical, voice, gestural, etc.

As depicted, OS 138 also includes kernel 142, which includes lowerlevels of functionality for OS 138, including providing essentialservices required by other parts of OS 138 and application programs 144,including memory management, process and task management, diskmanagement, and mouse and keyboard management.

Application programs 144 include a renderer, shown in exemplary manneras a browser 146. Browser 146 includes program modules and instructionsenabling a world wide web (WWW) client (i.e., computer 102) to send andreceive network messages to the Internet using hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) messaging, thus enabling communication with softwaredeploying server 150 and other computer systems such as othercomputer(s) 152.

Application programs 144 in computer 102's system memory (as well assoftware deploying server 150's system memory) also include a socialgroup based product recommendation logic (SGBPRL) 148. SGBPRL 148includes code for implementing the processes described below, includingthose described in FIGS. 2-4. In one embodiment, computer 102 is able todownload SGBPRL 148 from software deploying server 150, including in anon-demand basis, wherein the code in SGBPRL 148 is not downloaded untilneeded for execution. Note further that, in one embodiment of thepresent invention, software deploying server 150 performs all of thefunctions associated with the present invention (including execution ofSGBPRL 148), thus freeing computer 102 from having to use its owninternal computing resources to execute SGBPRL 148.

Note that the hardware elements depicted in computer 102 are notintended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlightessential components required by the present invention. For instance,computer 102 may include alternate memory storage devices such asmagnetic cassettes, digital versatile disks (DVDs), Bernoullicartridges, and the like. These and other variations are intended to bewithin the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As described herein, the present invention pulls content from acircle/collection of friends in order to build a product/servicerecommendation dataset. That product/service recommendation dataset isthen (1) categorized (i.e. electronics, restaurants, books, etc.). Eachcategory is then (2) visually represented (i.e. a product circle, etc.).In one embodiment, each item in the category is (3) optionally weightedbased on (i) the person who recommended the product, (ii) how recentlythe product was purchased or liked, (iii) the strength of the socialconnection/relationship of the person who recommended the product to theuser, and/or (iv) the expertise of the person who recommended it. Thepresent invention enables an aggregation and analysis of productpurchases/recommendations from a user's social network along with theirsocial strength/connection, thus enabling that user to purchase withconfidence, armed with past experiences from his/her closest, known,and/or trusted friends. At the same time, individual purchase historiesof the user are kept confidential and his/her identity is keptanonymous.

With reference now to FIG. 2, assume that a user is using a userinterface 202 to shop for a product from an online retail store. From aselection of products 204 a-204 n (where “n” is an integer), the userselects Product B (204 b). In one embodiment, this selection isperformed by dragging an image of Product B into a selection box 206. Inone embodiment, this causes a detailed description about Product B to bedisplayed (e.g., within description pop-up box 208).

With reference now to FIG. 3, and more specifically a user interface 302that is pulled up by double-clicking or otherwise activating the blockshowing Product B (204 b) in FIG. 2, Product B (204 b) is now associatedwith a visual social circle 304 of friends of the user of the userinterface 202/302. As depicted, the social circle 304 displays friends306 a-306 x (where “x” is an integer), of personal friends, co-workers,persons, etc. That is, friends 306 a-306 x within the social circle 304make up a group of persons who are members of a same social grouping viaa social media network (e.g., an online social networking service, inwhich social friends and/or other persons having common interests,geographical locations, etc. are grouped together), a user-actiondefined group (e.g., users who subscribe to a same rich site summary(RSS) feed), a user-defined group (e.g., a user simply enters that nameand network address (e.g., e-mail address) of specific persons deemed tobe the user's “friends”), etc. In one embodiment, each social circle 304is defined for a particular purpose/field. That is, a user may have onesocial circle of friends that are consulted when purchasing computers,another social circle of friends that are consulted when leasingcomputers, another social circle of friends that are consulted bypurchasing/leasing non-computer items, etc. In all embodiments, theuser's friends use computers (e.g., other computer(s) 152 depicted inFIG. 1) to communicate with the user via a network (e.g., network 128depicted in FIG. 1), which is coupled to a computer (e.g., computer 102)that is being used by the user who is shopping for a product.

As depicted in FIG. 3, internal logic (e.g., SGBPRL 148 depicted inFIG. 1) identifies the category of Product B (e.g., from metatagsassociated with the depiction of 204 b) as being a “computer”. A queryfor recommendations about (preferably this type of) computers is sent tofriends 306 a-306 x in the social circle 304. Each of the friends 306a-306 x then provides their opinion about product B (not shown). In oneembodiment, the friends 306 a-306 x provide recommendations about otherrelated products that they recommend. For example, friends 306 a and 306b both recommend that the shopper (i.e., user of user interface 202shown in FIG. 2) consider recommended product 320, while friend 306 xrecommends recommended product 314, friend 306 d recommends recommendedproduct 312, and friend 306 c recommends both recommended product 308and recommended product 310. Note that one or more of the recommendedproducts includes details about that product (e.g., displayed on theuser interface 302 as details 316 about recommended product 308).Furthermore, detailed information about the friend who recommended aparticular product is also displayed on the user interface 302 (e.g., inblock 318 regarding the friend 306 c who recommended the recommendedproduct 310). Thus, as depicted in FIG. 3, similar products to product Bare presented as recommended alternatives, such as the set of products308, 310, 312, 314, and 320 based on the user's social graph, depictedas social circle 304.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a high level flow chart of one or moreexemplary steps taken by one or more processors to present productrecommendations based on input derived from a user's social network ispresented. After initiator block 402, one or more processors receives adescription of a product selected for purchase by a user (block 404).For example, a processor may receive an input from the user, indicatingthat he/she has selected a particular product to bepurchased/leased/borrowed/used.

As described in block 406, one or more processors then searches a socialnetworking site for information relevant to a characterization theproduct. This information, which is provided by friends of the shopper,may be about the product that was selected by the shopper/user, or itmay be information about alternative products.

As described in block 408, one or more processors then characterizesthis information according to a social relationship between the user andan other member of the social networking site, a product family of theproduct, and a product expertise of the other member about the product.That is, the information about the originally considered product and/oran alternate recommended product is characterized (e.g., weightedaccording to the information's significance and/or trustworthinessand/or relevance to the needs of the shopper) according to who from thesocial circle provided the information (a social relationship betweenthe user and an other member of the social networking site); what typeof product is being evaluated by members of the social circle (a productfamily of the product); and how much persons in the social circle areexpected to know about this type of product (a product expertise of theother member about the product).

As described in block 410, one or more processors then present thecharacterized information about the product to the user (e.g., on a userinterface such as user interface 302 depicted in FIG. 3). The processends at terminator block 412.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the product being consideredfor purchase by the user is from a group of multiple products in a samecategory. For example, the user may be considering the purchase of aparticular home vacuum cleaner from a group of vacuum cleaners. In thisembodiment, a product recommendation for each of the vacuum cleaners(products) is weighted, such that the weighting of each productrecommendation generates weighted product recommendations. In oneembodiment, the weighted product recommendations are based on (i) aperson who recommended a specific product, (ii) how recently thespecific product was acquired by the person who recommended the specificproduct, (iii) a strength of a social connection between the person whorecommended the specific product and the user, and/or (iv) an expertiseof the person who recommended the specific product to the user. Theweighted product recommendations for each of the multiple products arethen aggregated to generate an aggregated weighted recommendation foreach of the multiple products. For example, assume that vacuum cleaner Aand vacuum cleaner B have each received five recommendations frommembers of a social group. Without weightings, vacuum cleaner A andvacuum cleaner B would each have a raw score of 5 (based on the fiverecommendations) for their respective product recommendations. However,assume that the recommendations for vacuum cleaner A are weighted moreheavily than those for vacuum cleaner B, based on factors (i)-(iv)presented above. As such, vacuum cleaner A has a higher aggregatedweighted recommendation relative to vacuum cleaner B, and thus vacuumcleaner A is the higher weighted product. Thus, vacuum cleaner A ispresented to the user as the highest weighted product (with the highestweighted product recommendation).

In one embodiment, one or more processors receive a user selectionaction from the user, where the user selection action causes the productto be selected for purchase by the user. For example, in FIG. 3, if theuser double clicks one of the recommended products (308, 310, etc.),this action will cause the user to be directed to an online retailservice (e.g., a product page) that sells the selected product. Thus, inone embodiment, in response to the user receiving the characterizedinformation about the product, a user selection action is received fromthe user. In various embodiments, the user selection action causes anaction from a group consisting of adding the product to an on-lineshopping cart, automatically directing the user to a product webpagethat describes the product, and automatically selecting a purchaseoption for the user to purchase the product.

In one embodiment, one or more processors aggregate information aboutthe product without presenting an individual purchasing history for theuser. That is, although the past purchasing history of the user may ormay not be considered by the computing logic when deciding which socialcircle should be consulted for a particular product from a line ofproducts (i.e., a family of products that have a same and/or similarfunction, purpose, source (manufacturer), limitations, etc.), thisinformation is not disclosed to 1) members of the social circle or 2)any other party, thus ensuring the confidentiality of the originalshopper/user.

In one embodiment, the product originally selected by the user, and/orthe product that is recommended by another member of the user's socialcircle, is merchandise (i.e., “goods”). In one embodiment, this productis a service (e.g., work performed on behalf of and/or to the benefit ofanother).

In one embodiment, one or more processors present the characterizedinformation on a social graph. An example of this characterizedinformation is shown in FIG. 3.

Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention and described herein, auser selects a product of interest to view more details. The product iscategorized. The user's social graph is analyzed to find products of thesame category purchased by the user's social network. In one embodiment,the product's category is cross referenced with other products purchasedby the user's social graph. Products purchased within the user's socialgraph are ranked.

In one embodiment, the strength of the relationship between the user(prospective product purchaser) to the (original and/or alternate)product's recommender is considered. For example, “family” may carry themost weight, followed by “friend”, followed by “coworkers”. Similarly,the product recommender's expertise of the product category may beconsidered, as may how recently the product recommender bought theproduct (either the original product considered by the user or analternate product recommended by the product recommender).

Note further that, in one embodiment, a “circle of products” rather thana “circle of friends” is depicted, such that the original productconsidered by the user is associated with a circle of similar products,which are then associated with persons, known to the user, who havepurchased, used, or otherwise are familiar with the similar products.

Note further that, in one embodiment, the identities of the user'sfriends in the social graph/circle are not disclosed, in order toprotect confidentiality. This keeps purchase history anonymous whenpeople choose not to share.

Consider now the following exemplary use case in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present invention. Bob is shopping for a newcomputer on Website A (presented by an online retailer). Bob views aModel L laptop, which is made by Manufacturer D. By integrating WebsiteA with Website F (a social network website), Website A may ask Website Ffor a circle of recommended products based on Bob's currently viewedproduct. Website F analyzes Bob's social graph, looking for others whohave purchased computers. Bob's co-worker, Sally, recently purchased acomputer. Since Sally is a Computer Engineer, Sally's purchase isreturned as a highly recommended computer for Bob. Bob is presented witha (in one embodiment hierarchically ranked) list of recommendedcomputers based on his social graph.

Thus, the present invention enables a user to be presented with productrecommendations from their social network by taking into account: who intheir social network has actually purchased a product; what the strengthor relationship is to the social contact who has purchased a product;whether the social contact liked/disliked that product; whether thesocial contact's review of a product or category of product evolves overtime; and whether the social contact has a history of buying in thatcategory of products (i.e. power purchaser). Each time a user wants tobuy something, he/she can use our invention to look up a product orcategory of products and will be presented with thereviews/recommendations from various social contacts. This evolvesbecause people may purchase new products, update their reviews, or thestrength/relationship of the user to the social contact recommending aproduct may change over time.

Note that the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of various embodiments of the present invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description, but is notintended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the formdisclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spiritof the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the invention and the practicalapplication, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art tounderstand the invention for various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Note further that any methods described in the present disclosure may beimplemented through the use of a VHDL (VHSIC Hardware DescriptionLanguage) program and a VHDL chip. VHDL is an exemplary design-entrylanguage for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), and other similar electronicdevices. Thus, any software-implemented method described herein may beemulated by a hardware-based VHDL program, which is then applied to aVHDL chip, such as a FPGA.

Having thus described embodiments of the invention of the presentapplication in detail and by reference to illustrative embodimentsthereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations arepossible without departing from the scope of the invention defined inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for presenting product recommendations,the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, adescription of a product selected for purchase by a user; searching, byone or more processors, a social networking site for informationrelevant to a characterization of the product; characterizing, by one ormore processors, the information according to a social relationshipbetween the user and an other member of the social networking site, aproduct family of the product, and a product expertise of the othermember about the product; and presenting, by one or more processors,characterized information about the product to the user.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: in response to the user receiving thecharacterized information about the product, receiving, by one or moreprocessors, a user selection action from the user, wherein the userselection action causes an automatic selection of a purchase option forthe user to purchase the product.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theproduct is at least one of a merchandise and a service.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: presenting, by one or more processors, thecharacterized information about the product on a social graph.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the product is from a group of multipleproducts in a same category, and wherein the method further comprises:weighting, by one or more processors, each product recommendation foreach of the multiple products to generate weighted productrecommendations; and aggregating, by one or more processors, theweighted product recommendations for each of the multiple products togenerate an aggregated weighted recommendation for each of the multipleproducts.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the weighted productrecommendations are based on (i) a person who recommended a specificproduct, (ii) how recently the specific product was acquired by theperson who recommended the specific product, (iii) a strength of asocial connection between the person who recommended the specificproduct and the user, and (iv) an expertise of the person whorecommended the specific product to the user.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein presenting characterized information about the product to theuser further comprises: identifying, by one or more processors, ahighest weighted product that has a highest aggregated weightedrecommendation relative to other products in the same category; andpresenting, by one or more processors, the highest weighted product andthe highest weighted product recommendation to the user.